James Elgar, 19, denied being sexist or racist and said his views on subjects such as immigration, taxes and crime were "moderate" and not radical

The Twitter feed of a 19-year-old UKIP election candidate has been reported to Runnymede Borough Council’s Electoral Services for comments deemed to be racist and sexist.

James Elgar, of Brox Road, Ottershaw, has been selected to stand in Egham Hythe ward in local elections on Thursday May 22, despite reports from UKIP London that his membership lapsed on January 1.

The party’s head office has condemned Mr Elgar’s account as "deplorable" and said they would be launching an investigation into how he managed to be nominated.

His Twitter account and various messages posted from it were reported to the council ’s electoral services manager, Samantha Clifton, on Friday (April 25) following which Mr Elgar’s public profile was made private with restricted access.

The Twitter feed, published under the handle @James_Elgar, included a string of comments containing racist and sexist remarks, including references to hijacked planes, rape by "Asian boys" and "foreigners and weirdos".

On April 1, the user tweeted: “I am running for councillor of Egham...This is going to be hard-work. But on the plus side maybe Ibiza again this year!”

Other tweets included: “There is no women in the CBB final? That’s because they are all in the kitchen where they belong...”

The nominee, who posted a picture of his UKIP membership card in February 2013, is currently banned from Woking Football Club’s Kingfield Stadium for the 2013/2014 season due to irresponsible behaviour. He posted a photo on Twitter of the letter confirming this with the message: “I’m not deemed responsible enough to been [sic] near a home game LOL!”

His father, Mark Elgar, defended his son’s tweets as "banter" and said they were "random soundbites taken out of context" and did not reflect his son’s character.

“He is the least sexist and racist person you could ever meet, his best friend is a girl and he works with people from Czechoslovakia, Pakistan and Afghanistan,” he said. “Last night he came home at 10.30pm with a curry.”

When asked directly about the nature of some of the tweets, James Elgar said they were "irrelevant" as they were before he was running for election.

In an email, he added: “These comments have not been put into context, they just seem to be extracts, not showing the whole conversation.

“Some comments are just quotes from films, some are over a year old and some of these comments are not even recognised by me as my own.”

He said it was "customary" for teenagers to use profanity but said it had been a lesson to him to avoid it in future.

“I am a 19-year-old youth trying, early in my life, to make a difference through legitimate politics and to support UKIP in a positive and progressive manner,” he said.

“I am no way supporting racist, sexist or radical views, far from it, my views are moderate when it comes to subjects such as immigration, taxes and crime.”

A spokesman for UKIP said: “These sort of comments and images are utterly deplorable.

“Mr Elgar would appear to be a young man who still has plenty of growing up to do.

“Our inquiries reveal that his UKIP membership in fact lapsed on January 1 2014 and we shall not accept any renewal application from him.

“We shall be conducting our own internal investigation as to how a lapsed member was allowed to become a candidate in Runnymede in the local elections, let alone some-one who had expressed and/or passed on these kinds of sentiments on social media.”

The Surrey Advertiser, News & Mail and Staines Informer are part of Trinity Mirror Southern, offering you unique access to our audience across the region online and in print.

We reach an average of 599,113* unique users a month with dedicated coverage of Guildford, Woking, Esher, Staines and the whole of Surrey

80% of our visitors**, who view an average of 2,616,228* page impressions every month, are in the desirable ABC1 socio-economic groups.

To book an advert with the our advertising team, call 01483 508700 or visit the Trinity Mirror Southern website trinitymirrorsouthern.co.uk for more information.trinitymirrorsouthern.co.uk for more information.

We are part of Trinity Mirror Southern, offering you unique access to our audience across the region online and in print..

She has been editorial director of the online and print titles in Surrey and north-east Hampshire since 2007. Marnie previously worked at the BBC as a producer for 5 Live, having moved to national radio from BBC Sussex and Surrey.